


As The Night Goes

by bitsori



Series: Beautiful Feeling [1]
Category: Day6 (Band), PRISTIN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Overnight Romance, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-07-15 10:21:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16061102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitsori/pseuds/bitsori
Summary: She finds him sprawled out along the bench beside the foot of the dorm building. At first it freaks her out a little becausewhat the f— is he alive?--or: Minkyung meets Brian, and he has a different effect on her; AU





	As The Night Goes

**Author's Note:**

> I took so many breaks in writing this that in the end I couldn’t remember most of what I planned or intended and I just rushed to finish it. I think I was inspired when I recently re-marathoned the Before Sunrise trilogy and I wanted to write a romance that took place overnight and… this happened. And! I'm well aware that this pair is random af. They'd look beautiful together, though.

 

 

 

 

2053H       D + 0000 

Minkyung knows that Yaebin is right - she’d finished her last final for the term earlier that afternoon (she’s feeling quite confident about it too), and it’s her last night before she flies back home to South Korea, so she should just have fun. But she finds that she’s over the whole party scene at university and that some time to herself so she can think and reflect on her exchange year.

It’s only a dorm party anyway, probably the two hundredth one being thrown just the past term alone so Minkyung thinks she’s definitely not missing anything. She tells Yaebin that she’s going get some fresh air for a while, and despite the whining and pouting her friend does to get her to stay, she’s quick to duck out as soon as something else manages to momentarily distract the other girl.

“Wait!” She isn’t deaf, and she hears the tiny little blonde trying to call out to her, but she just laughs and gives her a playful wave. But her friend has been cornered by some classmate or other, and was hounding her about - well, it was _something_. Minkyung hadn’t stuck by long enough to hear, really.

“I’ll see you before I leave tomorrow,” she mouths at her roommate as she wiggles her fingers goodbye right before finding her way out the door.

  


 

2102H 

She finds him sprawled out along the bench beside the foot of the dorm building. At first it freaks her out a little because _what the fuck is he alive?_ And then she looks around, wondering if the guy maybe has companions loitering around but the smattering amount of people even around are just passing by, not even giving the sleeping male ( _or_ her for that matter) a second look which makes Minkyung wonder if she should even care. Cautiously, she walks over anyway, leaning down and holding her hand close to the man’s nose - _he’s breathing, at least_ , she thinks.

So now she feels awkward - embarrassed, even though no one is paying attention to her to care about what she did. That fact nevertheless fails to stop her from feeling self conscious, so she tries to act as naturally as she can when she starts to move to sit at the far end of the bench. Except just as she does, the guy starts to stir, causing Minkyung to momentarily freeze.

Her grip on her beer can tightens, and she lifts it up to drink from it, trying her best to look at everywhere else but the guy as he slowly awakens. A minute - maybe two - passes, and he sits up, not saying anything. From the corner of her eye, Minkyung notices that his hair is sort of sticking out in some places. She feels laughter bubbling in her throat, and she does her best to hold it in, except that causes her to snort beer out of her nose instead, to be followed by uncontrollable coughing.

“Are you okay?” The guy turns to her; he still sounds sleepy, but there’s a hint of worry in his tone. She nods, but she keeps coughing - the back of her nose hurts from that, and she feels really _really_ embarrassed to the point of turning away while wiping her nose with her sleeve.

“Here,” the guy says, readily offering her a handkerchief. He’s smiling, but Minkyung isn’t sure if it’s a kind smile, or if he’s actually secretly laughing at here. She stares at the hanky while she sniffs - she really isn’t the type to handle embarrassment gracefully because she isn’t the type to get herself into embarrassing situations. “It’s clean,” he adds, a bit more prodding this time.

“I—” She starts to take the handkerchief, and then recoils as she remembers something. “I won’t be able to return it,” she explains without really explaining. “My sleeve is fine—” She adds, wiping her nose and her mouth once more before taking a deep breath - that’s easier now, and it doesn’t feel like she’s inhaled half a bottle of beer. She flashes a grateful smile. “I’m fine now.”

The guy shrugs and pockets the tiny piece of cloth; he doesn’t take his eyes off her though, even as he leans back in his seat.

“So, you’re too good for the plebes at the party?” His tone is teasing, but pleasant at the same time. Minkyung isn’t sure if that would make sense to anyone if she tries to explain it out loud, but that’s how her head analyzes it. Either way, it’s the kind of tone that naturally draws you into a conversation even though the guy is a complete stranger.

“I could say the same for you,” she retorts; she’s trying to be careful, but his playfulness is either contagious or they were serving some A-grade beer back at the party, because her own drawl is light, and just as teasing. “You were looking pretty far off into dreamland back there,” she adds. “Quite a feat.”

He laughs - and it’s pleasing, _friendly_. “My friends say I can fall asleep anywhere,” he explains while he runs his fingers through his hair, finally fixing what had caused Minkyung’s little snorting incident earlier. “And they’d be right.”

“Were you waiting for your friends here?” She asks, placing her near empty beer can down - she’s done with that now.

“I guess I was.” He shrugs, and casts a quick glance at the dorm entrance before turning to face her again. “But I don’t feel like doing it anymore. Want to go for some coffee?”

  


 

2115H

“I’m Brian, by the way.” The way he smiles is so sweet and warm and agreeable; Minkyung thinks, no wonder she actually agreed to go for coffee. This guy’s probably lured in a few too many girls just from his general disposition.

“I’m Minkyung.” Despite her mental apprehension, she introduces herself anyway. It’s her last night, it’s not like she’d lose anything. Unless the guy turns out to be a serial killer, obviously, but she’s already decided to take the risk by accepting his invitation to the nearest Starbucks so imagining the worst is pretty moot now. “I’m not really the type to just go with strangers you know,” she finds herself trying to justify her actions anyway.

“Aren’t friends all strangers at one point?” He shoots back readily as he falls in step with her, once again shining _that_ _dangerous smile_ in her direction.

“I—” This time she laughs. “Fair enough.”

“Besides. I already introduced myself. Brian - Brian Kang,” he reaches inside his back pocket and takes out his wallet. “Should I show you my ID?”

“No!” She laughs and gestures for him to put it away, but she takes the small card out of his wallet anyway, and waves it at her. “Okay - okay, you’re no longer a stranger!” She shakes his head and allows herself to relax next to him. “So why _were_ you being all homeless and sleeping outside, then?”

“My friend,” he begins. “We were supposed to drive across town and see this band, but then his girlfriend went mental on him—”

“Mental?” Minkyung clarifies, eyebrows quirking upwards.

“Mental,” he confirms with a laugh before proceeding with his story. “They had some kind of petty argument recently and Jennie told Jae that if he didn't get his act together then she was going to this party to hook up with some freshman - which she really wouldn't have done because Jen’s not that kind of girl, but Jae went after her anyway and—,” once again he pauses, this time to give his wrist watch a quick glance. “And now they're probably making out in some corner of some dorm room.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“ _Oh._ ”

Brian laughs. “I swear that's the entire story. Guess I gotta thank Jae though. Because of his whipped ass I’m here now, about to get coffee with a beautiful girl.”

Minkyung can feel the warmth spreading across her cheeks, but hopefully the dim lighting on the sidewalk hides that from him as she lightly hits his arm. “How many girls has that line worked on?”

“It only matters if it's working on you right now,” Brian retorts, and Minkyung just lets herself laugh so she wouldn't have to admit that it's working perfectly.

  


 

2206H

“So.”

They sit across each other, Brian with an iced Americano and a heated gourmet sandwich, Minkyung with her simple order of green tea latte. She wraps her fingers around the warm cup and lifts an eyebrow at him. “So?”

“So!” Brian laughs and gestures at her, before he picks his sandwich up. “Sorry about this, I’m starved, but—” He nods. “Tell me more about yourself?”

Minkyung balks. “You go first.” She knows she sounds like a child, but she’s really not good at conversations like this.

“Hm—,” Brian holds up a finger and takes a massive bite off his sandwich, completely devoid of any sort of unease. She watches, entertained, while he chews on his food. When he notices that he’s got her attention, his eyes reflect laughter but he’s quick to turn his head and actually cover his mouth until he chews. “Sorry,” he says, even though he doesn’t really sound like he is. “So—”

At this point, Minkyung is unable to reign in the laughter that bubbles from her throat. “We’ve been through a handful of ‘So’s’ alread,” she berates him.

He grins anyway, and once he finishes taking a quick sip of his drink, he begins. “Okay, so— oops,” he laughs, and Minkyung tries to resist the charms of his laughter. “Okay let me try again. I’m Brian, hi, nice to meet you—”

“We’ve also been through that,” she interrupts, giving him cheek to hide the fact that she's beginning to find him _really_ attractive.

“Right.” He’s unfazed, and he just drones on with a smile, tapping on fingers as if he’s enumerating facts. “I live at Echo Hall even though I’m a senior, I major in marketing and, uh— I’m a Sagittarius?”

Laughing once more, Minkyung shakes her head. “Why does that matter?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugs and takes another bite of his sandwich, albeit this time a smaller one. “I dated a girl once and she was obsessed with astrology. We went out for a couple of months and then she found out when my birthday was and promptly dumped me - said it just ‘wasn’t in our stars.’” He snorts out laughter like he just shared the funniest thing he can think of. “You’d think if she was so concerned with that sort of thing she would have asked for my birthday the moment I asked her out on a date.”

“Maybe you were just too irresistible for her to care at first,” she offers mockingy.

“Are you saying I’m irresistible?” He asks, smirking. Minkyung can only laugh and shake her head - she should have known she was walking straight into that one. “But yeah—,” Brian waves a hand, dismissing the banter and going back on topic. “I’m just putting it on the table, in case you care. Don’t want you dumping me for it after a few months.”

“Bold of you to assume we’ll even make it past the next hour.”

He clicks his tongue, and the grin he wears is obviously issuing a challenge; like he’s saying _go ahead, try and resist me._ Minkyung would probably be annoyed at the smugness, but somehow, like everything else he's shown her so far, he makes it look attractive.

When he doesn’t say anything and just eats some more of his sandwich, she takes that as her cue to at least return the informative introduction.

“I’m Minkyung Kim,” she says, even though that part he already knows. “Minky—” She clarifies, offering the name that most people here in the US have started to call her. “I’m taking International Studies. Sort of.” She laughs; back home, Philosophy is registered as her official major, but under the exchange program she signed up, she’d ended up taking more IS units so she’s been considering submitting paperwork for an official shift once she goes home. “And it’d be really for this—,” she gestures between the two of them, “— to go past tomorrow, because I’m going home.”

“Home?”

“Seoul,” she clarifies. “I’m only enrolled here for a year.” She notices a shift on his expression, and she allows herself to think that it’s disappointment of some sort. “So,” she continues, “It really would be a stretch to make it after tonight.”

“We’ll see,” he says. “I have family in Seoul, you know,” he adds, this time using surprisingly flawless Korean  and all Minkyung can do is laugh even though she assumes that he’s all just lip service.

  


 

2309H

“I can't believe you can recite practically the entire Shrek movie!” Minkyung shakes her head, trying to calm herself down as Brian repeats the entire _Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers_ , schtick for at least the second time since they’ve sat down for coffee.

Except she’s not being honest because she _can_ believe it; Brian has spent the last twenty minutes doing Shrek and Donkey impersonations. To be fair, he could be making lines up on the spot because it's not like Minkyung has the dialogue in Shrek memorized - she hasn't even seen the movie in at least ten years, which, according to Brian is _a travesty_. She does vaguely remember enough of the movie to at least know that his accent and voice usage are on point, which is why she’s  been laughing non-stop during that same time frame.

“ _Oh, you both have layers. Oh. You know, not everybody likes—_ ” He’s starting the donkey half now, and because she can’t reprimand him amidst more bubbling laughter, Minkyung ends up throwing a crumpled paper napkin at him instead.

“Stop!” She demands, and finally, Brian just laughs before taking a sip of his nearly finished drink.

“You wouldn’t believe me,” he points out, sounding quite triumphant. “It was my favorite movie growing up. You could say I learned to speak English because of it. The sequels weren’t as funny, but you can bet I wore those DVDs out just as much.”

Minkyung just smiles and shakes her head as she calms herself down; the past hour has been spent making small talk and sharing small tidbits and anecdotes about their lives with each other. She’s learned that he’s a few years older than her — he’s in his last year of University, barring unexpected circumstances. He was born in Seoul, like her, except his family had moved to Canada when he was in sixth grade, and then he’d moved to the US after getting into university. She’s shared as much about herself - only child, born and bred in Seoul, and here on an exchange program for a year. She doesn’t remember the last time a guy had managed to get her to talk _this_ much, and they’ve barely known each other for an hour.

It’s nice, she thinks, even though they’ve currently settled into a comfortable silence.

“So, have you ever been in love?”

Or not.

Minkyung almost snorts her drink out - _again_. Luckily, she had finished her latte long ago, and water goes down surprisingly smoothly before she sputters out laughter in response to the question. “What?!” She’s probably sporting a funny expression anyway because he starts laughing as he once again offers her his handkerchief. Minkyung waves it away, and uses paper napkins instead. “That came out of left field.”

“Well,” Brian shrugs. “I’ve had enough small talk over the last hour, haven’t you? Love seems like a more thoughtful subject that’s still somewhat safe. Everyone has thoughts about love.”

“We were doing just fine with Shrek!” She retorts, laughing once again.

“That’s where the topic comes from,” he insists with a grin. “Have you ever experienced love where you would have been happy turning into an ogre for the rest of your life - isn’t that a valid food for thought?”

  


 

2343H 

It’s almost midnight when Brian’s phone suddenly starts ringing - his ring tone is Drake’s _In My Feelings_ , and it just starts playing so loudly that it cuts them off mid-conversation. Minkyung doesn’t have the time to hide her surprise _and_ disdain at the tune, and Brian laughs at her before his thumb manages to slide along the ‘answer’ button.

“Hey, Jae,” he clears his throat and holds a finger up at Minkyung as he tries to reign in his chuckles. Minkyung nods and keeps silent, but she can’t help but listen to Brian’s end of the conversation. “You’re what?” He smiles at Minkyung when he pauses, and she assumes that it’s because his friend is telling him where he is. She wonders if it means that their night is over, and she realises that she gets a little sad at thought. “Yeah, yeah okay - I’ll see you later, bro,” Brian continues, and Minkyung waits until he’s wrapped the conversation up to shoot him a questioning look.

“He says he went ahead with his girlfriend to see the band that _we_ were going to see.” He laughs and shakes his head, and then he locks his phone and slides it back into his pocket. “He’s sooooo whipped.”

“I don’t understand why that’s such a bad thing,” she counters. “Being so devoted to his girlfriend, I mean.”

“Well—” Brian pauses, and his cheeky smile is momentarily replaced with a more thoughtful grimace. “It isn’t really. It’s just, you know—” He shrugs and laughs again. “It’s the kind of things guys like to rib each other about.”

He looks like he has more to say, and Minkyung _definitely_ has a lot more that she wants to counter him with, but before the discussion can continue, a couple of girls - really _pretty_ ones - approach them, giving Brian the friendliest greeting while barely managing a nod towards Minkyung’s direction.

She almost laughs because _what is this, high school_? But she manages to keep silent, watching as Brian trades flirty barbs with the girls. At one point she starts to get impatient, and she finds herself unconscious tapping her carefully manicured fingers against the table surface - that, at least, seems to make the wannabe coquettes realise that it’s time for them to get moving. They remind him to message them soon, but he simply gives them a non-committal nod before sending off on their way to the counter to get their orders.

“Huh.” She grunts and stares at him. “So that was you in your element, huh?”

“I was being friendly,” he points out.

She doesn’t have claim over him, obviously, but the behavior gets under her skin anyway. It’s partly the tone of their conversation before they’d been interrupted, coupled with the unabashed flirting.

“So it’s an insult for a guy to be so ‘whipped,’” She calls him out. “But perfectly laudable behavior to be so _friendly_ with other women even though you’re already on a—” And then she stops herself because this isn’t really a date, so now she feels flushed with embarrassment. “Never mind,” she mumbles. “We should go.”

He only watches with amusement as she gathers her things, but he doesn’t waste time in promptly following her once she heads out the exit door.

She feels ridiculous for acting like she is, for making sure that she’s walking ahead of him like she’s upset and she wants him to know that she is; she knows she’s being silly and that mostly she’s just embarrassed for getting carried away when she’s barely known the guy for the three hours, give or take.

“Minkyung, wait—” It surprises her when Brian grabs her hand, but the night air has allowed her to calm down somewhat and so she pauses so she can turn and look at him.

“Sorry,” she apologises. “I was acting ridiculous.”

“So…” For some reason, Brian is smiling instead of giving her a judgmental look. “Did we just have our first fight?”

Minkyung laughs and shakes her head before elbowing his side. “That hardly counts as a fight.” She pauses and hums, before starting to walk again. “More like a heated debate, don’t you think?”

  


 

0016H 

“I can’t believe I’m out here at midnight with a stranger—”

“Here you go again with the stranger thing,” Brian chuckles, waving his hand as if it’s such a trivial thing for her to say. Which it probably is now, considering he isn’t really one anymore. One night, and she probably knows more about him than she does most people she’s gone to class with over the course of the year. Still, it’s that fact alone that makes it all feel so… strange.

“You know what I mean!”

Brian hums softly. “When you think about it, it’s more of a wonder how we’d managed to stay strangers all this time, don’t you think?”

Minkyung gives him a questioning look, and he continues. “It’s not like the Asian community in this school is _that_ big,” he points out, to which Minkyung slowly nods. She gets what he means. The first people she’d met at school were from some Asian-American circle, because that’s who administration had assigned to show her around. Even the roommate she’d been assigned - and she’s thankful because she grew to love Yaebin a lot - was Asian, because they thought that would help her ‘acclimate easier.’ She thinks there might something a little racist in all of that, but she never gave it _too_ _much_ thought.

She thinks about his words, and how to respond, but before she finishes her though, big fat drops of water are suddenly splashing down on her.

“Oh my God it’s raining!”

“It’s not—” Brian is laughing, and grabbing her hand so he can pull her along with him as he jogs ahead. “It’s the sprinklers.”

Minkyung whines, but she allows herself to be dragged along, soon enough giving into laughter, even shaking her hair around to whisk water in his direction.

  


 

0029H 

When Minkyung whines about how most of her clothes are all packed and now she has to go through them for a set to change into, Brian is quick to suggest lending her a spare shirt.

“My dorm—” He explains, laughing as he gestures towards a building easily seen from where they are in the quad. Minkyung surprises herself by quickly agreeing to the offer.

Brian allows her free access to his closet. “Pick the first shirt you can grab,” he says, and so she reaches in only to laugh when the first shirt that she grabs happens to be one with a familiar Jolly Roger design on it.

“One Piece?!” She lights up, all excited. She had grown up reading and watching this, and most days when she tells her friends that she just wants a quiet day at home, the only thing she really does is rewind and replay her favorite arcs from the anime.

When she turns to face Brian, there’s a look on his face that she can’t explain. He looks pleased, amused and _something else_. “What?” She feels embarrassed from his scrutiny, but she goes on talking, practically gushing as she boldly declares her love for the series. “Luffy is the best fictional character, bar none!” She insists, not even letting him get in a word edgewise.

“I think I’m in—” He starts, voice soft, sweet, _agreeable_ \- it makes Minkyung’s heart skip a beat so before he can finish his sentence, she lunges forward and clamps both her hands over his mouth.

“Don’t—” She warns him, in a voice breathier and lower than she intended. Her face is far too close to his, and they exchange a tense and quiet glance before she pulls away and hits his arm. “Just turn around so I can change,” she demands, swiftly turning around so he wouldn’t be able to get a better look at her face and realise how deep the red that’s spread across her cheeks is.

She half expects him to say something just to be contrary - or at least make some kind of playful, borderline greasy comment like he’s been doing all evening. But silence takes over the room instead, and before she gathers enough courage to lift her shirt in his presence, she can’t help but look over her shoulder to check if he’s really looked away.

It surprises her that he actually has his back turned to her, and from what she observes he’s just quietly fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt while he waits for her. It makes her smile, at least until he suddenly speaks up to ask,

“You finished yet?”

“No!” She snaps, right before she hurriedly peels her wet clothing off and replaces it with his much looser anime t-shirt.

  


 

0108H 

It’s Minkyung’s idea to head to the nearest 24-hour laundromat. She says she needs to get her wet and ruined clothes cleaned, and he agrees without any sort of opposition. It’s a twenty minute walk, but she insists on it anyway; when she points this out, she pauses and gives him another chance to object, but still, he agrees easily.

”I have a flight to catch in less than twelve hours,” she explains as they step out of his dorm building. Her trip back home to Seoul is a topic they’ve only vaguely touched earlier, but she’d neglected to mention that she travels as soon as the next day. She isn’t usually this talkative, and more than that, she usually doesn’t feel so much need to explain herself, but here she is anyway, running her mouth.

Embarrassing, she thinks, but he just smiles at her fondly, and acts like it’s nothing as his hand reaches for hers, fingers threading together. The action, surprisingly, calms her down instead of getting her even more riled up - he has strange effects on her, she realises, and she isn’t sure if this is a good or bad thing.

They end up just watching as the water goes round and round inside the coin-operated washing machine.

Between their walk, up to dumping the detergent into the machine along with their clothes they’d mostly fallen into the comforts of small talk, her explaining the merits and disadvantages of this X brand detergent versus that Y brand detergent. Brian had started making fun of her for it, except she’d immediately pointed out that he can benefit from listening to her by making an example of the shirt that he’s wearing.

“Look how faded the design is,” she berates him, not thinking at all as she reaches over to trace her fingers along the printed art on his chest. What she gets in return is boisterous laughter, and Brian grabbing her hand.  

“Okay, okay,” he gives in, still chuckling and just holding their clasped hands close to his chest.

The scene feels weirdly domestic, yet nice.

“What are we doing?” She asks suddenly, fidgeting a little in place but not having enough heart to pull her hand away.

“Doing laundry?” He asks back, one eyebrow arched, while his lips curl into a curious smile, like he knows what she’s really asking but he wants her to clarify anyway.

She rolls her eyes and tugs at his hand. “What happens after tonight?”

“It becomes… tomorrow?” He grins, and she laughs because she was actually expecting that answer.

“No—,” she sighs, and finally gathers enough will to take her hand away. Her fingers feel lonely immediately, and to fight the urge to grab his hand again, she starts fidgeting with the hem of her shirt instead. “I mean, it’s not like we’ll see each other again. Do we even keep in touch?”

This time he gives her an incredulous look; she probably deserves that because in this day and age there are so many ways to stay in contact. Still—

“Maybe we shouldn’t,” she offers softly, sighing and finally fighting the urge to slip her hand back in his. The machine has stopped spinning and one of them should probably press the right buttons to drain water, but neither of them moves. He’s not making any protests, but he’s just looking at her as if waiting for an explanation. “I mean tonight has been really nice - but it’s silly to think that something will come of it, right? I mean, what else can we do? Attempting to do long distance for two people who only just spent a few hours together sounds ridiculous, right?” The more she talks, the more absurd she sounds, except she finds that she can’t stop prattling on. “And then what, we’ll add each other on Facebook? Only to witness each other’s lives, while slowly building regret over not being able to have more. And it’s going to be the worst because we’ll keep wondering what if this, and what if that—” He’s staring at her like he’s considering her words, but she can’t read if he’s agreeing or not. “So yeah,” she concludes, all mumbly now as she feels self-conscious under his scrutiny. “Let’s keep tonight a beautiful, contained memory.”

Brian sighs and shakes his head. Minkyung licks her lips and bites the inside of her cheek, waiting for him to finally make a comment, but all he does is squeeze her hand right before he leans in to gently brush his lips against hers.

Minkyung freezes - she hadn’t been expecting that. But her eyes naturally flutter close, and then she’s leaning in, lips parting just a little to accommodate his. It’s nice, sweet, chaste - their mouths shift against each others a bit, and then just like that, their liplock is over and Minkyung is tearing herself away from him.

“We have to dry the clothes,” she points out finally, but she’s smiling because she can’t help herself.

  


 

0145H 

Once they’re done at the laundromat, the two of them end up at the convenience store just across the street, ordering a tall cup of slushie each - blue for Brian, purple for Minkyung.

“You know I really miss the convenience stores at home,” Minkyung muses while they sit on the curb, knees touching each other’s. “There’s so much more items - like I used to have _meals_ in convenience stores. Not that that’s recommended or healthy—” She laughs. “But it was cheap. Oh! I also really miss the cheap soft serve ice cream.” She sighs, her homesickness hitting her hard all of a sudden. “The rice meals— instant ramyeon.” She goes on to enumerate the number of snacks she used to regularly purchase at the convenience store just down the road from her high school best friend’s apartment. She misses Kyungwon too - she was practically a regular fixture at her place when they first began university, before she went abroad for her exchange program.

“You’ve been talking more and more, you know.” Brian’s eyes are shiny, and he playfully knocks her knee against hers. “Must be the sugar.”

“Or it can be you.” Minkyung giggles. He’s right, she thinks. It _must_ be the sugar.

“Are you saying I’m sweet?” Brian teases. “ _Like sugar._ ”

Minkyung almost chokes on her drink, coughing, sputtering _yet again_. “You’re going to end up killing me before the night is over,” she accuses him.

“Sorry— sorry,” he laughs and rubs her back to help her calm down; his touch is lighter now, gentler and it prompts her to lean towards it. Minkyung doesn’t know how to describe it, but it’s definitely different from when the night began.

“I’m going to admit something,” she says, turning her head so she can face him. She places her drink down and stretches her long legs out in front of her. “I agreed to borrow a shirt from you because I didn’t want to risk you walking me back to my dorm, only to end the night like that.”

Brian looks at her, eyes filled with warmth; and then he speaks and his tone is filled with playful teasing. “So what I’m hearing is that you wanted some of this _sugar_.” He laughs as he pounds himself on the chest, and he earns yet another slap to his arm courtesy of her.

“Ugh,” she groans. “Why are you so hard to read? Half the time you’re ruining the mood!”

Brian snorts and shakes his head. “You think _you’re_ so easy?!”

“Oh.” Minkyung scoffs. “I _know_ I’m not easy.”

“Okay.” Brian’s laughter grows - it’s loud, almost obnoxious. “I totally walked right into that one.”

A smug grin spreads on Minkyung’s lips and she picks her drink up once more to take a sip from it.

“The night doesn’t have to end, you know.” And just like that, Brian sounds calm again, more somber. “It doesn’t have to end until the sun is up and— what time’s your flight again? Anyway— if we aren’t ever talking to each other again after tonight, maybe stop talking about the end, then. Deal?”

Minkyung chuckles. “I kind of assumed that’s already what we were doing anyway.”

  


 

0252H 

It’s almost 3AM - and Minkyung only knows because she’d literally just taken a quick glance at her phone’s lock screen seconds before - when Brian makes the first move. He doesn’t even say anything; they’ve done so much talking over the last six hours before finally trailing off into quiet familiarity.

Minkyung is enjoying looking out across the campus from their elevated position on the rooftop of the campus theater building, when Brian lightly nudges her side. “Hm?” She turns to face him, a smile painted on her lips, and something about the expression he’s wearing alerts her that he’s about to do something bold.

Sure enough, it only takes seconds before he’s leaning in, and maybe it’s insane, but Minkyung is doing the same, meeting him halfway until their lips naturally meet.

It’s like something inside Minkyung snaps as soon as they make contact - her hands slide up his chest, grabbing at fistfuls of shirt, and her lips eagerly part against his. Suddenly there’s tongue - even a little bit of teeth - involved and everything else is fading away into the background like she’s only here for _this_ , for _him_.

She tries to remember the last time she’s been kissed like this, but even her thoughts begin to melt away as soon as his teeth graze her bottom lip. She hears soft, whiny moaning, and it takes her a couple of seconds to realise that it’s coming from her.

His arms have already wrapped themselves around her, one hand supporting the small of his back while the other slides down to comfortably rest along her butt cheek. Six hours ago, Brian was a stranger but now he’s turning out to be the best make out session Minkyung’s ever had in her life.

  


 

0311H 

It’s not until they’re stumbling into bed later that Minkyung finally let’s logical thinking catch up to her.

“Wait—” She pulls away, panting. Her eyes are glossed over, and she can’t help as her gaze settles on Brian’s now puffy lips. “Wait,” she repeats, this time inhaling deeply as she places her hands on his chest to hold him at bay. “This is going to sound ridiculous but - maybe we shouldn’t?”

She expects him to get riled up because even _she_ feels frustrated from his words. She really wants this, and that’s a big part of what’s scary to her. She’s no prude, and rationally she isn’t going to be losing anything if she goes through with this one night encounter but—

_But she likes him._

She really likes him, and the more this realization settles, the more this objectively becomes a bad idea. She doesn’t want to get attached, and sex with a guy she genuinely likes but is never going to see again? That’s just gateway to hell.

She tries to study his face for subtle changes; he looks like he wants to say something, but he also looks scared that he’ll say the wrong thing. It makes her wonder if she really is as much of a mystery to him as he is to her.

“Okay,” he says finally, his chuckle low and throaty. He grimaces and pulls his jacket off anyway, before he plops on the bed and just sits on it, back against the headrest. Minkyung watches him, still not knowing what any of his actions mean. Should she leave?

Before she can ask, he shifts a little and then pats the spot beside him. She feels some apprehension, but despite everything she still isn’t ready to have her time with him end so she carefully slides into the bed and cosies up next to him.

“Ah, wait—” He laughs as his body recoils and he leans away from her. “Give me a few minutes,” he mumbles gesturing towards his lower body as he gathers his legs under him.

“Oh— _oh_.” She winces when she realises how uncomfortable he must be feeling, but she can’t help but laugh a little while shifting her body away from his. “Sorry.”

The silence that hangs between them is so thick with tension that Minkyung unconsciously curls up into a ball, legs against her chest, and her chin tucked into her knees. This is her fault so she desperately tries to come up with something to say.

“Your roommate’s still out, huh?” Is what she ends up with.

“Ah, yeah.” Brian turns to face her, head resting against the wall. “I really doubt he’ll be back tonight. His girlfriend lives in a really nice, expensive apartment off campus with a couple of her best friends. Her family’s kinda loaded. They own a chain of malls and—” He laughs. “And I don’t know why I’m sharing this much about her.”

His more relaxed demeanor allows her to unclench, and she rolls out her legs and twists her body a bit so she’s looking back at him. She’s still trying to come up with better conversation, but she would be lying if she says that sex isn’t the thing that’s in the forefront of her thoughts.

“Do you like complicated women?” She asks, her voice hoarse and uncertain.

His stare softens, and once again his lips curve into a charming smile. “I don’t know,” he answers, scuttling closer and kissing her shoulder. “But I’m pretty sure I like _you_.”

His words coat her heart so warmly, but something is rumbling at the pit of her stomach, rendering her restless and needy for _something_.

“Okay,” she mumbles, and then she’s grabbing his face and throwing herself at him, practically breathing him in as soon as their mouths meet again.

It doesn’t take long before their clothes are off, and every other ridiculous worry is forgotten as they completely lose themselves in each other.

  


 

0401H 

“I don’t want to sleep,” Minkyung murmurs while lazily nuzzling his chest. Their legs are tangled together, under the thin blanket that’s haphazardly thrown over their naked bodies. Brian is playing with her hand, his palm pressed against hers as if he’s comparing the length of their fingers.

“Don’t sleep then,” Brian whispers, lips grazing gently on the back of her hand, trailing soft kisses down to the inside of her wrist before he looks at her smiles. The only lighting they have is dim, and coming from a lamp on a desk located across the room, but even so she can feel him tracing her features with his eyes.

She sighs, fighting back the heaviness of her eyelids. “If I sleep now, then tonight will en—”

“Ssh.” Brian nudges her before letting her hand go so he can pinch her lips together instead. “What did I say about talking about _that_?”

Minkyung laughs and pretends to bite his fingers. “That I shouldn’t,” she answers. “Sorry.”

And then they’re both quiet, only the faint sound of their mixed breathing echoing around the small room. She’s really tired and really, really sleepy and she’s already starting to feel her consciousness slipping away.

“Hey,” he whispers, almost desperate - or maybe that’s just her imagination. She’s too worn out to figure out his tone. “Let’s at least exchange numbers. _Please._ ”

But she doesn’t answer, instead simply burrowing into his chest, finally letting sleep take over.

  


 

0601H 

Faint sunlight is peeking through the blinds when Minkyung quietly slips out of bed, hands reaching around her to pick her clothes up off the floor. Brian looks peacefully asleep, and he remains so as Minkyung quickly dresses herself up. She sits on the edge of his bed as she puts her shoes on, wondering if she should leave him a way to contact her - _would it be too much?_ He _did_ say they should renege on the original deal - that choosing _not_ to stay in contact in this day and age of technology is the dumbest idea ever but - _but what if that was just goddamn post-coital afterglow talking?_

Before she can make her mind up though, she feels something touch the small of her back - Brian’s hand, sliding past the hem of her shirt _just because_. Her breath hitches and she remains still for a couple of seconds, just enjoying the simple feeling of his touch on her skin. And then she lets out a frustrated sigh before looking over her shoulder at him.

Her chest heaves when she tries to laugh, but her voice is shaky when she speaks. “We probably - no, we _really_ shouldn’t have had sex,” she spits out. God _, Kim Minkyung_ , she thinks. _You’ve never been this fucking indecisive in your entire life._

“Stop talking,” Brian tells her, tired, sleepy, but also affectionate. “Do you _always_ think this much?”

“No—” She suppresses soft laughter. “I guess you have that effect on me.”

“So come back here,” he tells her, shifting to make space for her. “Stay. We’ll have breakfast in an hour, then I’ll walk you back to your dorm — and then we’ll figure out how to deal with— _this_. Because whatever it is, I like it enough to try and make it work.”

  


 

0708H

Breakfast is had at the nearest McDonald’s where Brian orders two sausage mcmuffins and three hash browns. Minkyung gives him an incredulous look, but he laughs, obviously not shy about his appetite. “You tired me out,” he teases her, before practically devouring one of his hash browns in one go.

She shakes her head and takes dainty bite off her own breakfast sandwich, thinking about how much she doesn’t know about him and she’s crazy for still being here with him - and yet she feels good, happy - _content._

“I hate getting up early, but I love cooking breakfast when I’m back home,” she tells him, and his entire face lights up. “I make really mean egg rolls.”

“Maybe one day I’ll get you to cook for me,” Brian comments, and Minkyung has to bite her tongue and stop herself from pointing out how unlikely it will ever happen, all things considered.

“Maybe,” she says instead, for once allowing herself to feel good about something that’s so uncertain.

She must really like him if she’s this scared to even try; Her best friend, Kyungwon, told her once that she’s the type never to take risks - it wasn’t anything that Minkyung would have considered an insult, except there was something about the way Kyungwon said it that made it so derisive. It had escalated into a hell of an argument, one that ended with her sending in her application for the exchange scholarship just to prove a point. And then Kyungwon had laughed and hugged her, and once she got accepted Kyungwon had driven her to the airport, all proud because of course she knew all along what Minkyung really wanted.

She thinks maybe if Kyungwon could see her now, she’d call Minkyung an idiot for falling back into old habits and thinking too much.

  


 

0911H

They stare at each other while they stand in front of Minkyung’s dorm room. Minkyung laughs and reaches up, tracing the dark circles under Brian’s eyes; she probably looks even worse and she feels exhausted but also happy.

“Been a crazy night,” he tells her, smiling. “But you definitely haven’t seen the end of me—”

Minkyung is still thinking of a response - it’s hard when she’s so worn out already, and she almost wants to grab his face and just kiss him senseless when her door suddenly swings open to reveal her surprised roommate.

“MINKY! THERE YOU ARE!” Yaebin’s arms fly around her, hugging her with palpable relief. It’s not until she loosens her hold that she realises there’s someone else standing the doorway. “Oh—”

Her pint-sized roommate gives Brian a snide look while her arms tighten around Minkyung again. Brian just flashes his pleasant smile, and holds his hand out as he introduces himself. “Hi, I’m Brian.”

The scene cracks Minkyung up for some reason, but she quickly ushers her roommate back in, promising to tell her everything once she’s done. (“Whatever,” Yaebin grumbles. “Hurry up or we’ll get stuck in traffic on the way to the airport.”)

“Sorry about her,” Minkyung tells Brian, leaning in and clutching fistfuls of his shirt. Her happiness is making her feel uncharacteristically bold. “But you know what? You’re right— this is definitely not the last you’ve seen of _me_.”

  


 

 

☆

  


 

 

1133H       D + 0214

 

 **kangbri:** flight just landed at incheon  
**kangbri:** see you soon (:

can’t wait ♥     ↲  
_Seen, 11:35 AM_

  
  
  
  


_fin._


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